ARE YOU READY TO ACCEPT THAT THE WORLD IS AT WAR?

It's almost 10:00 pm in New York.  Getting close to 4:00 pm in the middle of the Pacific.  If I wasn't already scheduled to return home tomorrow I would be changing my plans.

Read the news.  Log on to the Drudge Report, the Washington Post, the New York Times.  Read some columns on Townhall.com and Opinion Journal.com.  The situation in the Middle East is grave, and it's a situation that is in its entirety generated by Islamic radicals.

We are reaping the entirely predictable rewards from weakness the West has shown toward the mad mullahs who run Iran, and the grotesque gargoyle calling the shots in North Korea.  Islamic jihadists grow bolder and more deadly with every day that passes.  They fire rockets into Israel neighborhoods --- Israel responds --- and the American press carefully and methodically catalogues the number of civilians killed as Israel defends itself.

It's war, folks.  It's the culture of the West, the culture of freedom and religious tolerance, vs. the hate-filled and violent culture of radical Islam.  We aren't going to negotiate ourselves out of this one.  We aren't going to be able to use our vast wealth to buy peace.  Negotiations will show weakness.  Money will bring contempt.

Radical Islam must be destroyed.  Squashed.  The repugnant virus of radical Islam and all of the Islamic terrorists who seek to spread it must be eliminate from the face of the earth.  Time to start.

See you on the radio on Monday.

HEADING BACK HOME

Web Guy has been keeping me up to speed insofar as the email is concerned. I can always tell just what previously aired segments of the show they chose to run as a "best of" by the email. So ... it looks like Belinda decided to rerun a segment in which I said said something nice about gay men.

Oh man, you should have seen the email.

Look ... I'm so very sorry I can't be all things to all listeners. Talk radio may be the most popular radio format out there, but it still only holds down about 15 to 17 percent of the listening audience. More people don't listen to talk radio than do ... and there's no way that any one host can salvage a smidgen of honesty while trying to appease to all those who do tune us in.

Staunch Republicans want me to rail against Democrats every minute I'm on the air. Democrats don't want me to say anything nice about George Bush. Devout Christians want me to swear that I believe every single word in the Bible, or admit that I don't love Jesus. Atheists want me to argue constantly against the idea of any God at all! Vegetarians want me to slam the meat industry and talk about how cow farts are contributing to global warming, while meat-eaters want me to suggest that vegetarians are pasty-faced leftists who couldn't punch their way out of a paper bag. The anti-choice crowd wants me to preach against abortion, while the pro-choice crowd wants me to contribute huge sums of my book royalties to Planned Parenthood.

Sorry folks ... there is just no way in hell I'm going to make everyone happy ... and that includes those of you out there who just can't accept the idea that some people might be wired a bit different, sexually speaking, than you.

There's going to be a very long chapter in "Somebody's Gotta Say It" titled "INGTLTYA" Those initials stand for "I'm never going to listen to you again" and the chapter will list the three (for now) main reasons why people write me those INGTLTYA emails; to wit:

1. My opposition to support a Constitutional amendment to criminalize flag burning.

2. My refusal to state unequivocally my total and complete acceptance of and belief in the Genesis story of a six-day creation and my stated belief in the theory of evolution.

3. My continued refusal to exhibit a hatred and/or fear of homosexuals.

Now that's the list as of this week.

Who knows how many other topics I'll add before the book is finished.

I'm just going to take every one of those topics and lay it all out in the book. Lemme tell ya ... it's going to stir some big-time puddin'.

So .. it's back to the mainland tomorrow ... hopefully in a first class cabin devoid of screaming, whining little ill-behaved monsters. Oh, I know my diatribe at the beginning of the week really rubbed the fur of some of you in the wrong direction. There were quite a few nasty emails on that one also.

I particularly enjoyed the emails that told me that just because I could afford to fly first class doesn't mean that I had any right to expect that I would be free of the agony that goes with sitting next to a spoiled, uncontrolled brat for nine hours.

Let's just put it to you this way. When you go out to eat you can chose a Ryan's Steak House, or the Capital Grille. Just as all of the seats on an airplane get you to the same destination, so do the steaks and Ryan's and at the Capital Grille nourish you about equally. So .. why pay more to go to the Capital Grille? Comfort, atmosphere, and to protect yourself from someone else's screaming brats.

It would be ridiculous to complain about loud kids at Ryan's. A top-notch restaurant like the Capital Grille is another story.

I suspect that most of the hyper-angry email I got on that particular rant came from parents who have ill-behaved, nuisance children, and KNOW IT!

You need to spend a little less time shooting the messenger and a little more time swatting some tiny asses.

See ya Monday.

Now, staff, take it away!

NEW POLLS SAYS DEMOCRATS LEADING

A new AP poll says Democrats are leading Republicans by a 3 to 1 margin and can expect to take over the House and Senate this fall, if things don't change.  Bad news for the GOP, because those elections are only 4 months away.  Or is it?

Consider this: poll after poll showed John Kerry was going to defeat George W. Bush 2 years ago for the presidency.  The opposite happened...and by a fairly comfortable margin.  So you have to take polls with a grain of salt, especially ones conducted under the watchful eye of the leftist Associated Press.

In addition, look at how the poll was conducted.  789 registered voters were asked if they would vote for the Republican or Democrat in their district.  They chose the Democrat, by 51 to 40 percent.  The only problem?  Registered doesn't mean squat...unless you're a likely voter.  Off-year elections are notorious for low turnout.  Second, asking somebody about party affiliation is dubious at best.  It's always been said that people hate the Congress but love their Congressman (or woman.)  Without asking likely voters about specific candidates, the poll is worthless.

But not entirely.  The Republican Party does need to wise up, if they expect to hold their majorities this fall.  They can start by doing something about the illegal alien invasion, out of control government spending and high gas prices.

THE BIG DIG RIPOFF

The scam known as "The Big Dig," that is the burying of Interstate I-93 and part of I-90 underneath Boston, continues to be exposed.  In light of the tragic accident involving the falling ceiling tiles that crushed and killed a 38-year-old woman on Monday, the spotlight is on the Big Dig.  And what a mess it has been.  But this is what you get when you put government in charge of something.

Originally budgeted at $2.5 billion in 1985, the current price tag is more than $15 billion...and rising.  Where did the money come from?  Yup...you guessed it. More than half of it came from you and me...the federal taxpayer.  Labor unions, local politicians, crooked public officials and shady contractors all tapped the Big Dig kitty and ripped off the government.  What's worse...as we are now finding out...they used shoddy building practices.  Everything from inferior concrete to now some 240 bad ceiling bolts holding up concrete ceiling panels that weighed tons...and may not have even been necessary.  Some reports are saying they were primarily for aesthetics.  Nice.

So who's fault is all this?  Most of the blame lies squarely on the Democratic politicians that were in office throughout the Big Dig.  Teddy Kennedy...John Kerry...etc. Every time there was a cost overrun, they were there to squeeze more money out of the American taxpayer.  And now somebody has died. Tragic.  The worst part?  That woman didn't have to die.  Turns out in a 1998 report, the state Office of the Inspector General reported that the system of bolts and glue used were not up to par.  The bolts were too short and the epoxy wasn't strong enough.

And here's an interesting fact: guess who vetoed the funding for the Big Dig, way back in 1987.  Ronald Reagan.  But the Democratic Congress overrode his veto.

PLAME SUING CHENEY, ROVE AND LIBBY

Valerie Plame has filed a lawsuit against Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Scooter Libby.  The basis for her lawsuit: that her Constitutional rights were violated in the "outing" of her status as a CIA agent and the supposed retaliation that took place against her because of her husband.  You do remember Joe Wilson, don't  you?  He's the former ambassador that ripped apart the Bush Administration in an op-ed piece about his trip to Niger to look into reports that Iraq sent an agent there to buy yellow cake.  Not the kind you eat, by the way, the kind of uranium used to make nuclear weapons.

Valerie Plame contends in the lawsuit that the supposed outing has limited her professional opportunities.  What a joke.  If she thinks that's true, then she needs a new agent.  Up until this whole controversy, nobody even knew who she was.  Now everybody knows who she is.  Before Robert Novak's column in 2003 named her, Valerie Plame was a nobody...a complete zero on the public radar.  Now she's famous.

As for this whole business about outing her as a CIA agent, that's also been debunked.  If you believe media reports, Patrick Fitzgerald basically discovered that Plame's employment at the CIA was an open secret.  That is, several people knew about it.  Then there's the question of whether or not she was a covert agent.  Because nobody was indicted for outing her, that's also in question.  I guess riding a desk at Langley doesn't make you a covert anything.

Just another frivolous lawsuit from an attention-starved former government bureaucrat.

THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT

Can you believe that we are still arguing over minorities' right to vote? Take a look around. Does the world look any different than it did in 1965? I would sure as hell hope so! Yesterday the House renewed the Voting Rights Act but not without receiving some conservative criticism over several provisions in the bill. But what are democrats still crying about? Do minorities really need to be worried that we are going to revert back to the days of denying their "right" to vote...yeah right, folks! Get over it.

But here are some questions conservatives raised, and liberals so fervently made into a race issue. Should we be surprised? Anyway, since 1965 there has been judicial federal oversight over voting in several states; most of them are in the South. Well now, times have changed and conservatives saw this as a dated and unnecessary abuse of state's rights. The states (and their citizens) are now big boys, and capable of handling voting as they see fit. So back off Federal government, and stop trying to overstep your boundaries where oversight is no longer necessary. There is no longer a need for the Federal government to be involved in this matter!

Another point of criticism was the requirement to offer Spanish voting ballots in neighborhoods dominated by Hispanics—do most of them have to right to vote anyway? The New York Times had a humorously PC way of stating this, "Another provision of the act that drew fire from conservatives requires bilingual ballots in political jurisdictions with a high number of citizens who have difficulty with English." Can't you just say it folks? For frijoles sake, we all know you are trying to say! Anyhow, the amendment to eliminate bilingual ballots was defeated. Oh goody, perhaps our buddy Caroline Busby was out there campaigning, "Not only do you not need papers to vote, you don't even need to speak English!"

Don't worry, the act will be renewed in the Senate but it concerns me greatly that minorities are still on guard to gain/protect rights that they have had for over 40 years and will never be taken away.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Who says rednecks don't know anything about fine art? More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

A bit of controversy over Katie Couric's CBS Evening News road show.  They're not allowing media to be present at the events and now Katie Couric is promising "slow changes" on the evening news.  Evidently she doesn't think people are ready for big puffy chairs and cooking segments...yet.

A small Pennsylvania city has passed a law banning illegal aliens.  Evidently if the federal government isn't going to do anything about it, some have decided it's time for local government to step up.  Good idea.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to ban driving and talking on a cell phone...permanently.  In fact, he's so passionate about the issue, he follows around his 16-year-old daughter to be sure she's not talking on the phone.  Some dad!

Ann Coulter has lost a newspaper that carried her column...The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  They say it's just a normal rotation, but Coulter  says otherwise.  Apparently the newspaper got cold feet over her recent remarks and allegations of plagiarism.

The United States Senate dealt another blow to the idea of doing anything about illegal immigration yesterday.  They voted against providing funds for a new border fence with Mexico.  One of the most basic responsibilities under the U.S. Constitution....and they can't even do that.  Pathetic.

Charles Krauthammer says the war currently going on between Israel and Lebanon shows that Israel's very existence is at stake.  The reason?  Because the "Palestinians" don't want, and never have wanted, peace.

With every terrorist attack that takes place and every plot that is foiled, Diana West has started connecting the dots on Islam.  There is, after all, that one common thread in nearly every terrorist attack in the last 30 years.

Many on the left are trying to figure out what ails the Democratic Party.  Is it the lack of 'big ideas,' improper tactics or a little of both?  Jonah Goldberg cites as an example what's going on up in Connecticut with Joe Lieberman.

Israel has retaliated against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Since most of the "world community" despises Israel, Mona Charen is waiting for the UN and the European Union to denounce Israel.

With all the publicity surrounding Katie Couric's rise to the CBS Evening News, Kathleen Parker...in the past critical of Couric...says she's pulling for her.  She says people hoping she fails are just the typical type that tries to bring people down.

If you have 20 or so minutes to kill, like dark/goofy/sci-fi animation, have a broadband connection and yearn for an evil monkey of your own, you might just enjoy The Amazing Screw-On Head.

Ever wonder what it was like to hallucinate? For those not willing to experiment with illegal substances, we have something for you. Freaky, man.

Maybe you should just let sleep elephant seals lie, eh?

BOORTZ BLAST NEWSLETTER
Everyone is talking about the Boortz Blast newsletter. Do you want yours? Sign up here and we'll deliver it directly to your inbox every 2 weeks. If you signed up but aren't receiving it, either your company or your spam filter could be keeping it from you. Try using a personal email address and check your spam filter's junk folder for wayward newsletters.

COMMUNITY
If you like Neal and are looking for like minded people to hang out with online or off, check out these places:

Talkmaster Yahoo Group

Belinda Skelton, Ken Rogers, Laura Nunemaker and Brian Ganey assist in the daily preparation of Nealz Nuze!